1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for providing access to electronic works over a network.
2. Background
Several technologies exist that enable a user to upload digital music to a Web site storage location and then access that Web site for listening to the music at a later time. For example, mymp3storage.com clients can upload 50 megabytes of music (approximately 12 songs) from the client""s hard drive to a storage location on this site, and then download it to a different computer.
Similarly, cablemusic.com uses a Javascript Audio Content Kit (xe2x80x9cJACKxe2x80x9d), which allows listeners to turn Compact Discs (xe2x80x9cCDsxe2x80x9d) into small, high fidelity, music files. Using these web-friendly music files listeners can turn their personal computers into a personal jukebox and simultaneously upload their favorite music to the cablemusic.com site. Once on the cablemusic.com servers, listeners can construct playlists or listen to their individual songs via direct, immediate access to their music on demand from anywhere on the Web.
Myplay.com permits its members to store, organize, download, and share up to 250 megabytes (approximately 65 songs) of music in an online xe2x80x9clockerxe2x80x9d on its site. The myplay.com system protects the client""s locker with a password. Clients can upload their MPEG-1 audio layer-3 (xe2x80x9cMP3xe2x80x9d) and other digital music files to the site and listen to them from any Web-accessible computer in any order selected by the client.
Myplay.com and i-drive.com also facilitate xe2x80x9csideloadingxe2x80x9d of MP3 files. For example, the myplay.com system permits users to sideload or directly transfer MP3 files from particular MP3 vendors or from a URL currently storing the MP3 file to the user""s individual""s locker. This sideload or direct transfer feature obviates the steps of downloading the data, converting the data to MP3 format, and uploading the data to the locker. The client can store music by album, genre, and track. A database provides additional information about artists, including discographies and liner notes.
Unlike the systems described above, the present invention requires the user to actually possess the physical CD, which encourages individuals to buy CDs and thus furthers the protection of copyrighted material.
Another system in the prior art is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,525 (Roberts et al.), which claims a method for synchronizing delivery over a network of visual content from a first computer to second computer with playing of a musical recording on the second computer. The specification describes a method of searching that uses a unique identifier to identify a user""s CD in the user""s computer. Upon detecting the presence of a CD in the user""s computer, a script in the Web page computes the unique identifier corresponding to the CD and sends this unique identifier to the server. This information can include a uniform resource locator (xe2x80x9cURLxe2x80x9d) that relates to the audio CD (e.g., the artist""s home page), simple data such as the names of the songs, and also complementary entertainment (i.e., photographs of the band, artwork, animates, and video clips). In an alternative embodiment, when the user inserts an audio CD into their computer, the browser 1) launches, if not already running; 2) computes the CD""s unique identifier, and from this unique identifier derives a URL, and 3) retrieves the URL.
The present invention is a system and method for providing electronic works to a user. In a preferred embodiment, the system and method offers to provide the electronic works to users over a network. The works may be organized by artist, director, category, type of work, or many other organization models. The works may include songs, albums, movies, music videos, or a variety of other types of work. The electronic works may be obtained by acquiring the content from physical copies of the work, such as a content acquisition system including rippers and encoders.
The user generally accesses the electronic works on a machine capable of connecting to the network, such as a personal computer, hand held computer, cell phone, pager, etc. With their machine, the user may browse through the available works and select a desired work or group of works. The user""s selection is sent to the party offering the works.
This party receives the request and processes the request. Such processing may include determining that the user subscribes to the service, such as a login procedure, or verifying that the user is entitled to receive the requested electronic work. The user may verify that they are entitled to receive the desired work several ways, including by demonstrating they own a physical copy of the work or demonstrating they ordered the requested work from a retailer or other distributor.
Once the user adequately shows that they are authorized to receive the requested work, the user is provided with access to the work. In a preferred embodiment, this access is provided with a Content Delivery System. Access may include placing a copy of the electronic work in a user""s account, sending a copy of the work to the user, streaming the work to the user, broadcasting the work to the user, or providing the user with a pointer to a copy of the electronic work in the user""s account. The user may experience the work from any location with access to the network via a transmission lines or satellite connection.